Dog Days
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: Part of the Horseshoes and Hand-Grenades series. On a hot summer day, Shunpei Nara finally achieved his dream to become a magic wielder. [Two-Shot]


**Dog Days**

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rated: T

Summary: On the hottest days of Summer, Shunpei Nara realizes a childhood dream to become a magic user.

Notes: Takes place in the Horseshoes and Hand Grenades universe.

"_Dog Days – The warmest days of the Summer"_

_-Idiom_

"_It was a splendid summer morning and it seemed as if nothing could go wrong."_

_-John Cheever_

"And so, the Forest Wizard and his new friend retreated to their home within the woods, waiting for the next person to encounter them and to share their stories. The End." Shunpei Nara closed the book in his hand, seeing the children giving him a round of applause. Today, he was at the Orthrus Library, reading his favorite story _The Forest_ _Wizard_ for Children's Reading. Shunpei smiled as he looked at the cover, seeing the little wizard smiling back at him. He never got tired of reading this book, never got tired of seeing the main character go through his journey, and he never got tired in believing in magic.

"Read it again!" said a young boy, eyes sparkling wide. "Read it again, Shunpei-san!"

"Sorry," Shunpei smiled, standing up. "It's about time for you to go back home to your parents. But..." He leaned close, the children's eyes full of curiosity for what he was about to say. "Remember to believe in your strengths. Then, you will be able to harness the magic within you. Do you understand?"

"HAI!" The children chorused, nodding their heads. Shunpei nodded his own as he slipped the picture book into the bag draped on his shoulder, his "bag of tricks" as he called it. He pulled out a small marble pouch decorated with silver colored star-shaped confetti, tugging the drawstrings before dumping some of its contents into his hand. He placed his closed fist near his mouth and blew on it. His hand opened to reveal glittery sand that flew into the air.

"This is my mother's special 'Magic Dust'," Shunpei exclaimed. "With it, you will feel strong and brave. All the monsters that would frighten you will be scared of your courage. Courage is the best magic that there is. Remember that."

The children clapped their hands once more as Shunpei left the reading room, Shunpei heaving a sigh as he looked at the time on his watch as he climbed down the stairs. He exited the library, hopped onto his bike, and pedalled toward the Tiger Boy restaurant as fast as his legs would carry him.

"Gotta hurry, gotta hurry..." Shunpei muttered, taking a quick swerve to his left. "Amy needs me for deliveries today and I can't let her down!"

Taking another left, he passed an antique shop and a boy walking toward it, eating some donuts. Shunpei ignored the donut-eater, remembering that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He sighed, hoping that today's paycheck could at least pay for a plate of cold soba. The summer heat was unbearable—he was sweating like a dog! Knowing that complaining wasn't going to get him anywhere, Shunpei bit his lip and continued to pedal.

As he passed an abandoned store, he turned to his right. Time seemed to slow down, as he thought he saw a dark beast standing next to a strange white hooded man. The image disappeared when Shunpei blinked. Shrugging his shoulders, Shunpei smiled as he saw the familiar sign of the Tiger Boy restaurant. Parking his bike at the bike rack to the side, he pulled out an apron from his bag and entered. He felt the cool rush of the air conditioner, knowing that he would only be able to savor it for a few minutes before it was time to do his deliveries. A part of him wondered why he was the one who had to deliveries, until he remembered that, unlike Amy, _he_ actually had the transportation to deliver food to people.

"Shunpei!" cried Amy Uzuki, seeing Shunpei enter the restaurant, tying his yellow apron around his clothes. "There you are! Got some deliveries for you to make for our homemade _melon-pan!"_

"I'm on it!" Shunpei saluted, grabbing boxes of freshly made bread into his hands, each of them stamped with the head of a tiger. As he was about to leave the restaurant, Shunpei noticed the strange gun strapped to Amy's waist.

"Amy-san," he said. "Why do you have that toy gun on you?"

"Oh, this?" Amy pointed to the yellow gun. "Um...this is...this was from my trip to the Grand Canyon with my parents. I just love Westerns." She pulled the gun and pointed it at him, pretending to shoot. "Yee-haw!"

"Really now?" Shunpei conjured a picture of Amy with her parents riding horses as if they were in the Wild West. He remembered the piece of petrified wood Amy bought for him as a souvenir, but he never recalled Amy obtaining a gun in Arizona. Perhaps he just didn't notice it until now.

"Yep!" Amy replied, eyes darting back and forth. "There was this special...Native American with blue feathers who handed it to me for my spirit! He said that if I hold it close, I could walk the path of the ancient beasts! I read up about all the dinosaurs that were excavated in Arizona, and it was so amazing! _Wow_!"

Shunpei raised an eyebrow at how Amy punctuated her story with a bit of English, but shrugged his shoulders, knowing that he had lots to do than worry about faux firearms. He opened the door with his foot, placing the boxes of _melon-pan_ into the wagon connected to his bike. Waving goodbye to Amy through the window, he began to pedal across the hot asphalt. All around him, he saw children playing with bubbles, and eating ice candies, enjoying the simple kind of lives of kids. Shunpei smiled, recalling his own memories of making magic with his mother. There was something about them that made him forget his troubles...perhaps that was a magic of his own.

A blast of fire coming his way interrupted his thoughts. Shunpei jumped out of the way, rolling on the ground as the fire destroyed his bike and the boxes of _melon-pan_ into melted metal and ash. Shunpei turned around, trying to see where the attack came from. All he saw were the shadows made from the sun's rays hitting the buildings and trees, along with his trusty bike and deliveries up in flames. He rose to his knees, calming his rapidly beating heart, trying to find the location of the arsonist.

"Found you..." a deep voice chuckled. Shunpei turned around, just as he was lifted into the air by a strange monster whose body seemed to be decorated to like it was covered with flames. The torso was protected by silver armor with red lines to imitate a glowing furnace, and the face also looked like a glowing flame, the monster having a blue circle on its forehead.

"W...what are you?"Shunpei gasped, struggling to grab something in his bag. The monster chuckled.

"I am a Phantom," the monster growled, running a finger across Shunpei's cheek. "But you can just call me Hellhound. I'm here to send you deep into despair and watch as your body becomes the Gate to unleash that Phantom inside you. What do you think?"

"Um...well..." Shunpei pulled out the small marble pouch with the star confetti and quickly opened it. "Well, maybe you'd probably like what's inside this!"

He tossed the sand into the Phantom's eyes, watching the monster stagger back. Shunpei kicked the Hellhound Phantom in the stomach, giving him enough momentum for the Phantom to release its grip on him. Shunpei landed on his back, scrambling to escape the strange monster by any means necessary. He ran back to the Tiger Boy restaurant, hoping to get some from Amy—it was a crazy idea, but he had no idea what else to do. Surely he could get there on time before that strange monster tried to make him a Roman candle.

Unfortunately, a blast of fire from out of nowhere stopped him in his tracks. Shunpei looked around, trying to figure out where the attack came from. Once again, there was nothing than trees and their shade, and the sun striking the building to cast its tall shadows. He noticed a blue dot near the shadows in the alleyway, Hellhound Phantom emerging from the shade to prepare another flame attack.

"Why do you want me?" Shunpei asked, hand dipping into his bag once more. "I mean, why am I the one you want? I've been a good boy...I never harmed anyone or anything!"

"Because you are a Gate," a sultry voice whispered near his ear. Shunpei looked up, seeing a woman with pale skin and long black hair down to her waist, staring at him. She wore a long blue and white gown that accentuated her figure. However, something about how this woman smiled at him sent shivers down his spine. "Oh?" The woman chuckled, letting her manicured nails grab onto his face. "What's wrong? Frozen by fear's icy grip?"

"Um...no..." Shunpei stammered, opening the second pouch in hand, marked with the image of an egg, and standing up so he was face to face with the woman. "I just hope you don't mind what I'm doing next."

He dumped a few eggs into his hand before tossing two in front of the woman's face. Flour exploded everywhere, and Shunpei began to run once more, keeping an eye on the shadows to anticipate Hellhound's next move. Just as he was about a few feet from the restaurant, a myriad of stone monsters formed a wall to block him. These strange creatures growled and encircled Shunpei, each of them carrying a polearm in their stony hands.

"Don't make me use this!" Shunpei cried, tossing a third egg at the creature. Aside from a large puff of flour, it had no effect. "O...okay, maybe not the best idea!"

One of the monsters thrust their polearm to hopefully pierce Shunpei's heart. Shunpei moved to the side and kickedit in the chest. However, as the ghouls started moving clouser and closer, he knew that he wouldn't be able to escape so easily.

"Armed On!" A female voice cried. Shunpei watched as a pink warrior, with a triceratops designed helmet, jumped into the air, firing their gun. In one hand was a drill which they used to slice through the strange stone monsters. With a thrust of their hand, three exploded into rubble. They turned and kicked another one in the chest, sending it back into two of its brethren. Shunpei watched in awe before shaking his head and rummaging for something once more.

"Do that later!" the pink warrior cried. "Get out of there right now!"

"Right, I'll-" Shunpei paused, remembering just where he heard that voice. "Amy? Amy, is that you?"

"Go Shunpei, I'll explain later!" Amy performed another kick to a monster. "GO!"

Shunpei nodded his head and began to rush off, hoping the strange Phantom and sinister girl was nowhere in sight. He breathed a sigh in relief—he was safe.

"Boo."

Shunpei didn't see the strange girl in the blue dress before it was too late. An explosion appeared just centimeters away from his face, causing him to stop just before half of his face was burned off. The woman smirked, her form shimmering to reveal a dark purple form with magenta accents and hair that resembled snakes. Shunpei tried to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat.

"Well, well," The strange serpent woman smirked, leaning down and stroking Shunpei's face again. "I guess you _are_ frozen in fear." She chuckled, letting her serpents hiss near him. "I am Medusa, and soon enough I shall be your master."

"Over my dead body," Shunpei rummaged for another marble pouch. "I am not going to be playing your game of 'Gates' and 'Phantoms'. I'm-"

Medusa pulled Shunpei to his feet and pulled the bag off of his shoulder. She caught the bag before it fell with one of the snakes, pulling it to her side. Shunpei leapt to reach it, but Medusa was swift. Focusing her gaze at Shunpei, the poor teen could only watch as Medusa's serpents wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving. Shunpei wiggled about, hoping to at least free his hands to reach into his pockets for a pocket knife to slice through these strange bindings. Medusa giggled as she tossed out all of the contents in Shunpei's bag: marble pouches, a deck of playing cards, a plastic wand, a white rabbit puppet, and lastly, the _Forest Wizard_ book.

"Oh look at this," Medusa whispered, tilting her head to the side as took the book into her hands. She flipped the cover over and gasped in faux surprise. "Is this a message from your mommy? How cute! But..." Her lips turned into a sinister grin. "I think I know the perfect narrator for this recipe of darkness. Hellhound!"

Shunpei watched as Medusa flung the book into the air. Or rather, he watched as Hellhound rose from Medusa's shadow, catching the book in his hands. Shunpei struggled to grab onto the Phantom, but Medusa's snakes pulled him to the ground. Medusa

"Let me see what it reads..." The Phantom ran his finger across the back of the book's front cover, briefly sneering at Shunpei before reading. 'My little wizard, I know that you've loved to hear me read this book to you at night, and I know that you loved how much you helped inspire to me to write it.'"

"No..." Shunpei whispered, trying to suppress the memory of seeing his mother in the hospital, handing him that very book with the special message inside. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he looked to the Phantom. "Please don't..."

"'I'm sorry that I won't be able to be with you much longer,'" Hellhound continued. "'But I know that you are a kind and courageous person. Always remember to believe in your strengths, Shunpei. Believe. -Mom." Hellhound cackled, clutching his sides. "This is hilarious, no? I think I know just what to do in order to get that Gate of yours to open!"

Hellhound dropped the book to the ground and opened his mouth. Shunpei's eyes widened at the burst of fire that struck the book, reducing it to ashes. Tears fell down his eyes as he felt something in his chest. He grasped onto his heart, feeling something pulse within, trying to escape.

"Shunpei!" Amy cried, rushing toward him with her drill and gun in hand. "Hold on, I'm-"

Medusa narrowed her eyes as she gazed into the pink triceratops helm. Amy felt her body freeze up. It felt like she was swimming in honey as her feet were glued to the ground. The petrification slowly crawled up her legs, to her waist. She dropped her drill and grabbed her gun with both hands, firing a few shots at the Hellhound Phantom. The Phantom staggered back, but other than that it felt like the shots were just tickling him. The Phantom laughed, preparing to incinerate Amy and perhaps drive Shunpei into _more_ despair.

"Come on, little brat," Medusa hissed, seeing the purple cracks spread over Shunpei's hands and face. "Bring out that Phantom in you!"

Shunpei felt his heart nearly burst out. Amy's entire body, aside from her head, was completely immobile. She could only watch as something emerged from Shunpei's back with a chorus of howls.

"Shunpei, remember what your mother told you!" she cried. "Believe in your strengths, Shunpei!"

Shunpei's eyes opened as he looked at Amy. In his mind's eye, he saw his mother smiling at him, holding onto a copy of the children's book he loved so much. The image of his mother burst into flames, and taking its place was a fiery hound. Shunpei nodded his head.

"I...I am strong!" he said, turning to Medusa. "I will never be sent into despair! I won't let you!"

The specter emerging from his back let out another chorus of howls before pulling itself and landing in front of Shunpei with a series of snarls. It looked like it was carved out of obsidian, with three canine heads wearing collars made of amber and studded with diamonds. The dog heads look similar to Siberian Huskies.

"A Cerberus?" asked Hellhound, confused. "B...but the Gate didn't fall into despair. It's out here...how is that possible?!"

The Cerberus opened its six eyes. The far left head had cyan eyes, the middle had crimson, and the far right had gold. They glared at the Hellhound before the three heads opened their mouths, firing blasts of ice, fire and lightning that hit the Phantom in its chest. Shunpei gasped for breath, looking in disbelief at what he was seeing.

"Was that thing...always inside of me?" he asked. Cerberus turned to Shunpei and walked toward him. Instead of glaring and growling, the Phantom simply barked at Shunpei, happily licking his face.

"Good boy," said Shunpei. "Can you get me out of here?"

Cerberus barked and opened its mouths, tugging on the snakes that bound its master. Medusa summoned more serpents to bind Cerberus' mouths, but the middle head turned to unleash a gout of flames that caused Medusa to step back and incinerate the serpents into ash. The middle head then returned to pull the snakes off and lick Shunpei once more.

"This is getting out of hand," Medusa snarled, glaring at the dog-like Phantom. An explosion materialized near its feet, causing it to step back in alarm. "Hellhound, destroy that pathetic Gate!"

"Of course," Hellhound opens his mouth and turns to Shunpei. "Begone!"

Shunpei closed his eyes as he felt the scorching heat that was going to burn him alive.

"SHUNPEI!" Amy screamed, arms still frozen.

**Barrier, Now.**

Amy watched a large explosion take place, releasing heavy clouds of smoke that obscured her vision. When the smoke faded, she saw a strange cloaked figure in white, shielded by a large dome made of orange ethereal hexagons. She couldn't tell what the cloaked figure looked like, as their face was covered by a helm similar to an orange gem. Medusa and Hellhound gasped.

"W...White Wizard?" Hellhound stammered. "W...what are you doing here? H...how did you..."

White Wizard stayed silent as he turned to Medusa, changing the ring on his finger into another one that was purple, with a purple crystal in the background and two rectangles to resemble eyes. He placed his ringed hand over the strange belt over his waist, the buckle resembling a hand.

**Explosion, Now.**

"Why you-" Medusa growled. "How dare you exterminate our kind, White Wizard!"

"Begone," White Wizard whispered, pointing the Explosion Ring at Medusa. Medusa was hit with an explosion that knocked her back, causing her to revert to her human form. Medusa tried to raise her arm, but instead she collapsed to the side. White Wizard turned to the Hellhound Phantom trying to escape on a black motorcycle it conjured from the shadows. White Wizard just exchanged the Explosion Ring for a new ring showing a dragon head and three diagonal lines covering its body.

**Chain, Now.**

Six long chains made of white light emerged from a portal conjured by the White Wizard. They zipped through the air and wrapped around the Hellhound Phantom. The Phantom was flung backwards to White Wizard's feet, the robed wizard staring at him. The black motorcycle melted into shadows once more. Hellhound whimpered as he looked at the orange helm of the wizard.

"I suppose I _could_ kill you," White Wizard began. "But I think my friend here is hungry. Don't you agree?"

Hellhound gasped as Cerberus approached him, drool dripping from all three of its jaws. Shunpei and Amy watched as Cerberus howled and unleashed its tri-beam attack once more, unleashing three orbs of frost, flame, and lightning that struck the Phantom's chest and causing it to explode where it stood. What remained of the Phantom was a glowing red orb with a black insignia resembling a flame. Cerberus swallowed the orb and licked his lips before nuzzling White Wizard. White Wizard petted the heads as Shunpei slowly stood up.

"W...what was that?" he whispered, seeing Hellhound's motorcycle bike fallen against the road, and Amy still paralyzed. "Who are you?"

"I will explain in due time," White Wizard answered. He replaced the Chain Ring for a ring with an orange gem and a white star in the middle. He placed his hand over the belt.

**Heal, Now.**

White Wizard raised his hand as a shower of gold glitter flew toward Amy, falling over her body. Amy felt her arms collapse to her side as she dropped to her knees. She pulled out her gun and lightly pressed the top. The pink armor faded away as Amy pocketed a little battery that escaped the slot on the gun. Shunpei walked toward her.

"Are you going to be all right?" he asked. Amy nodded her head.

"I'll be fine, Shunpei," she said, smiling as Cerberus approached her. "_Wow!_ He's so cute, don't you think?"

Cerberus replied with a series of barks as they nuzzled into the girl. Shunpei brought his hand out to stroke the dog's heads, amazed to find that they felt like smooth stone than brushing one's hand against the fur of an animal. He looked behind him, and found that Medusa vanished during Hellhound's demise. He could think about it later, as there were more important things to ask.

"White Wizard," he began, turning to the cloaked figure. "Why am I this...'Gate' as those Phantoms said? And why did my Phantom emerge out of my body? What's going on here?"

"This is a peculiar case of Phantom summoning," White Wizard murmured, seeing Cerberus sit, wagging his tail in delight. "There are things even I don't know about these creatures."

"There are more of them?" asked Amy. "And they can disguise themselves as humans?"

"No," White Wizard answered. "They are born _from_ humans once they reach the brink of despair. The human dies and the Phantom can transform into them." White Wizard slipped a new ring onto his finger: a purple one with an arrow pointing to a dot in the center, and two circles expanding it. To Shunpei it was like the ring pointed to a bull's-eye. "Come, let me tell you more about this dreaded species."

**Teleport, Now.**

Cerberus tilted his head as White Wizard placed his hands on Shunpei and Amy's shoulders. The two watched a giant white ring of magic materialize underneath their feet, rising up and taking them to an unknown location. Then, all was still.


End file.
